Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father Francis “Frank” Trauger:

The first documented allegations of sexual abuse against Father Frank Trauger came to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in mid-1981. A parish priest reported to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that two families reported that Trauger molested their sons, ages 12 and 13. They had both been taken to the Poconos by Trauger, on separate occasions, and forced to a share a bed with the priest. According to a grand jury report, Trauger masturbated the boys and also tried to sodomize one of them. The Chancery official who received the report wrote only, “they shared the same bed and there were touches.” Trauger admitted that he shared a bed with each of the boys, and that he “massaged” them. He denied any other contact with them, but he did admit to similar incidents with two more boys earlier in the year. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia did not record the names of the third and fourth boy because no one asked Trauger for their names.

In August 1982, Trauger was the subject of more allegations at St. Matthew. According to Archdiocese records, Trauger took a 14 year old boy to his mountain home – as he had with the other four – and made him share a small sleeping bag in a tent, despite the fact that the home had two bedrooms. He “tickled and wrestled” the child, who happened to be the son of a Philadelphia police detective. The boy told his father, who reported it to the morals division of the police department. The police made contact with the Chancery, who met with the father. At the time, Trauger was on a two-week camping trip with two boys from the parish, and no attempt was made to contact him or the boys’ parents. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia never even asked the boys’ names.

When he returned home, Trauger was suspended from ministry pending an evaluation at Villa St. John Vianney, a notorious pedophile priest treatment center in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Upon his discharge, Trauger was assigned to St. Francis de Sales. Trauger was directed not to take boys on camping trips anymore but was also reminded that his job required him to participate in the parish’s youth activities including, “visiting the school, moderating the altar boys…as well as the CYO.”

In 1991, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia received information that Trauger was stalking a student at St. John Neumann High School after first encountering him at a bookstore. The investigation revealed that Trauger used his position as a priest to learn the boy’s personal information, using priests at the high school and the boy’s own parish priest to find out information. He removed the boy from class and took him to a private room under the auspices of counseling him about homosexual pornography that he thought the boy was looking at. He made sexual advances toward the boy, who went home and told his mother. She immediately called the school, which forwarded the info to the Chancery. Trauger admitted to his actions, though he characterized his efforts as having been done out of concern for the boy, who might be struggling with homosexuality. No one spoke to the boy until he came forward again a decade later.

In December 2003, following a grand jury subpoena of Trauger’s file, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced that Trauger had been removed from ministry following a more recent admission that he sexually abused three boys.

Trauger was laicized in 2005.

Trauger is still alive. He is 73 years old. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Pennsylvania, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Philadelphia now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims. Contact us at (954) 641-2100 or adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com today.

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